Assistant Auburn Police Chief Bob Lee gets a new title next week – chief of police.
Lee will succeed Jim Kelly, who retires Thursday to become the deputy director of the new misdemeanor jail in Des Moines.
Mayor Pete Lewis made the announcement of Lee’s promotion at Monday’s City Council meeting after a special tribute to Kelly.
Police staff learned about the decision Monday afternoon.
“Certainly I am very excited to take over the leadership of the police department, but there’s also some sadness,” Lee said. “I have been with Chief Kelly for a long, long time, in fact, since my career began here. I was hoping he would stay a few more years, but I understand the opportunity that he has. This is a great opportunity to serve the citizens. It’s an awesome police department, and I am very honored.”
Lee began his law enforcement career with the Auburn Police Department in 1981. He spent more than six years on patrol and more than two years as an investigator before his promotion to the rank of sergeant in 1990.
As a sergeant, Lee served in the patrol division for two years and spent two years as the special investigations unit sergeant.
He then spent two years as the sergeant for the South King County Narcotics Task Force, supervising a regional team of four narcotics detectives, a King County prosecutor and an administrative assistant. In 1996, he was promoted to the rank of commander and assigned to the patrol, investigations and administrative divisions. During his last two years as a commander, he also was assigned to be serve as commander for the Valley Special Response Team.
Lee earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Columbia Southern University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Leadership Institute of South King County. He is a member of the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and the FBI National Academy Associate (Washington Chapter).
As mayor, Lewis was responsible for selecting the new chief, and his first order of business was deciding whether to promote in-house or to launch a regional or national search.
Lewis said he realized that the City “already had an outstanding assistant chief” in Lee, so he offered the position to him.
“… In Auburn, we try to work with what we’ve got as often as we can,” Lewis said. “Knowing that Chief Kelly has been with us for more than 30 years, I’ve watched (Lee). I’ve asked him to go on particular assignments to test him. Although Chief Kelly never asked me why I was doing this, I’ve appreciated the command decisions Assistant Chief Lee has made and the manner in which he works. He understands the difficulty of being in the top position,” Lewis said. “When the chief has been out of town or had some surgery, Bob did an outstanding job, and that was my final test. And I knew at that time that he was ready, and with the chief’s announcement, he is ready.”
